International Journal of Marine Science, 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 172-181 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 173 understanding of ciliate communities and their importance in aquatic ecosystems, providing a foundation for future research and conservation efforts. 2 Morphological Classification of Ciliates 2.1 Overview of ciliate morphology Ciliates are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by the presence of cilia, which are hair-like organelles used for movement and feeding. The cellular structure of ciliates is among the most complex in eukaryotes, featuring a dual nuclear apparatus that includes a macronucleus and one or more micronuclei, along with highly specialized ciliary patterns (Abraham et al., 2019). Luo et al. (2019) conducted morphological and molecular biological analyses, particularly of the 18S rRNA gene sequences, on species from two genera of the family Psilotrichidae (Figure 1). Their work confirmed the taxonomic status of these species and expanded our understanding of the biodiversity and geographical distribution of this group of ciliates. Ciliate morphology includes various structures such as oral apparatus, body cilia arrangement, and caudal cilia, which are crucial for their classification and ecological functions (Chen et al., 2015; Qu et al., 2020). Figure 1 Hemiholosticha kahli nov. spec. in vivo (a, d–k) and after protargol impregnation (b, c) (Adopted from Luo et al., 2019) Image caption: a Ventral view of a representative individual, arrowheads show the algae. b, c Ventral (b) and dorsal (c) views of a representative specimen. d–g Ventral views of representative individuals, showing the contractile vacuole, arrowheads in (d–f) indicate the long posterior dorsal bristles, arrowheads in (g) show the macronuclear nodules, arrow in (e) shows the distinctly curved paroral membrane, arrows in (f, g) show the green algae, double arrowheads show the food discharged from the food vacuole in (f). h Dorsal view, showing the dorsal ribs (arrowheads). i, j Ventral views of a slightly squeezed specimen, showing the distinctly curved paroral membrane (arrow), macronuclear nodules and the granules. k Details of the green algae, arrowheads indicate the red eyespots (Adapted from Luo et al., 2019)
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